1974 NBA Finals: Boston Celtics vs Milwaukee Bucks Game 7
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- Dave Cowens got into foul trouble early and watched from the bench as Milwaukee took a 12-point lead in the first half. The Celtics were down by six late in the game, but they came back to force overtime. John Havlicek hit a long jumper to tie it at 86-86 with a little over a minute left, then Oscar Robertson was caught in a 24-second violation as time expired. In the first overtime, Milwaukee led 90-88 when Don Chaney got a steal and passed to Havlicek. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was back on defense and forced Havlicek to take a pull-up jumper. Havlicek missed but got the long rebound and scored to send the game into a second overtime.
In the second extra period Havlicek scored nine of Boston's 11 points. With seven seconds left he had the ball on the right baseline, and the Boston bench screamed for a timeout. Instead, Havlicek lofted a rainbow over Abdul-Jabbar for a 101-100 lead.
The Bucks called for a timeout, and instead of setting up a play for Abdul-Jabbar, strangely decided to set up a play for a hobbled Jon McGlocklin where Abdul-Jabbar would set a pick. McGlocklin couldn't get free, however, and Abdul-Jabbar, with the ball, moved to the right of the lane, dribbled to the baseline, and let fly a "sky-hook" from 17 feet with two seconds left. The Celtics put up a failed desperation heave, but that was it. The series was tied at three games apiece and going back to Milwaukee.
One of the great aspects of the early '70s centers were that there were two guys (Wilt, Jabbar) whose comfort zone on defense was to play in the middle of the lane. Centers like Cowens and Reed were very good shooters from 15-18 feet from the basket. Wilt and Jabbar would often give those guys room to shoot, while they patrolled the lane preventing easy layups and grabbing rebounds. On the other hand, a guy like Nate Thurmond was comfortable playing defense both inside and outside the lane.
Wes Unseld was the 'Wall' in the shaded lane then🤩
This game is so underrated. The Celtics were the road team in this game and were able to overcome losing Game 6 at home. People talk and talk about Kareem's great "sky hook" in Game 6, but they forget that Milwaukee was on the losing end of the series.
Speaking of game 6, people dont talk about Havleciks amazing performance. The skyhook was great but Hondo scored a lot of clutch baskets in those overtimes. Overall, Havlicek was the best player in that series and won the mvp
@@NoLanConnection he was so awesome for 16 years...the legend
@@NoLanConnection had Kareem not hit that shot, Hondo would have been the star of that game.
Oscar Robertson's final game.
Both he and Jerry West retired after this 1973-74 season. The greatest guards in NBA history before Magic and Michael came along.
Havlicek isn't too well-known today, but he was one of the ten best forwards of all time.
It not fair to compare jerry west & oscar robinson to magic johnson & machiel jordan ;; it not fair to compare kobe bryant & lebran jame to machiel jordan & magic johnson
I still believe Jerry & Oscar are top 5-6 all time guards.
These were the Celtics I first loved as a kid. They get lost I think, between the Cousy-Russell 50's & 60's teams and the Bird teams of the 80's. This team won in 74 and 76 and would have won in 73 if Havlicek didn't separate his shoulder in the eastern finals vs the Knicks. In 75 they were right there as well, only losing in East Finals to the hot shooting Bullets. Tremendous team that ran an absolutely flawless fast break.
This era was fun to watch. Love the style of play.
Great points
For sure. They do get overlooked in lieu of the dominant 60s Celts and powerful 80s teams. But at least until around 77, they were as good as any team in the seventies.
I agree with you one hundred percent. I became a Celtic fan in the 1968-69 season, Russel's last year and following a very brief downturn they were the best team in the 1973 season. Havlicek had scored 54 points against the Hawks in one of the first round games and the team was flying. I believe they had a record of 68-14 during the regular season and it may have been the best Celtic team of all time and had Havlicek not injured his shoulder there was a very good chance they would have won that year. The 1973 team was better than the '74 and '76 teams that won the championship. I'll never forget how disheartened I was when they lost in the playoffs against the Knicks!
@@PeterParker-wh9deWhich team do you think was better, the 73 Celtic team or the 86 team? tough tough choice, that 86 team went 67-15, 40-1 at home and won the title, the 73 team had a better record at 68-14, but had bad luck, with Havlicek hurting his shoulder, but no doubt, they would have won the title that year, if Havlicek was healthy.
This is an amazing win for the Celts. To lose Game 6 at home and then go back to Milwaukee against Kareem and do it on the road. That is a real team.
Yeah this game and game 7 in 69 are probably their biggest road wins they've ever had, just amazing!
The Milwaukee Bucks returning to the NBA Finals for the first time since this epic series against the Boston Celtics in the 1974 NBA Finals brought me here.
me 2
Kareem deserves the credit he gets. If anything, he doesnt get enough credit. Exactly how you put it, the C's suffocated him. Double and triple teamed him at times, making the rest of the Bucks having to beat the C's. Bball is a team sport, and the rest of the Bucks team couldnt do it. Dont downplay Kareem's greatness. The Bucks made it to game 7 of the finals because of him
David Cowens was one of the greatest Celtic players. He was a real mans man.
Overlooked and overly forgotten. One of my favorite players at the time, and I don't root for the Celtics (now or then, ever).
Cowens dominated Jabbar in game 7. Big Red was a center who had deep range on his outside shot, and he could run the floor like the wind. Big-time HOF...
Doesn't really get his due nowadays. He might have been a good 3 point shooter if that rule was around in his day. Cowens looks like a kid standing next to Jabbar, but always held his own, and then some.
They threw the bus at Kareem this game 7. He was clearly the best player in this series and should've gotten the Jerry West 69 Finals MVP treatment.
Not having injured Lucious Allen cost Milwaukee. But credit to Boston. I will say, Cowen being able to shoot from distance really bothered Kareem on defense who preferred to protect the rim.
Love 1970s nba basketball, love john havlicek, jo jo white, Charlie scott, Dave cowan
@slip satch yes Havlicek was great. Probably the greatest motor of any player in NBA history.....he never stopped moving without the ball.
@Coatesville Red Raiders my only (slight) criticism of Kareem is he really didnt attempt to step out and contest Cowens' jumpers outside the paint which really hurt the Bucks.
But overall I think he did absolutely all he could've this series individually outside of that small critique.
What a great team. You don't need 5 guys who are great at everything, you need guys who know what they do best, and more importantly know what they can't do.
Havlicek gave you a bit of everything. Scoring, defense.
Cowens gave you 19 pts, 15 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk every night.
Paul Silas gave you 11/11.
Jo Jo White gave you more shooting.
Don Chaney gave you suffocating defense.
and Don Nelson rotated in to give shooting, rebounding, and some clutch buckets when you needed them most.
"and more importantly know what they can't do" Amen to that. If this year's Celtics had figured this simple rule out, they would have beaten Golden State in the finals and hung Banner #18. But no, Tatum and Brown insist on forcing the ball into traffic over and over, no matter how many turnovers they give up. Smart continues jacking up ill-advised 3-pointers because he thinks he is a shooter. Lots of talent but dumb players. Coach Ime appeared to have made some progress this season towards breaking these guys of their bad habits. But when the pressure goes up in a close playoff game, they revert to what is familiar to them, which is often bad basketball.
Was this Paul Westphal rookie year? Red blew when he traded Westphal.
Cowens was a monster, he's one of those guys you didn't fuck with. Too bad he was so injured when Bird came to the Celts.
yeah, they could've one another title if Cowens was healthy, Havlicek has said that if he had known how good a player Bird would become he may have stuck around another year or two to ease his transition, like players from the 60's Celtics would do
Maybe best final series ever in my opinion.
76 was fantastic too.
Havlicek and cowers so underrated
Westphal must have been Auerbachs biggest regret. Sort of like losing the Duck.
Bill Fitch said if Cowens had played his natural position of power forward instead of center, he would have unquestionably been the best power forward to ever play the game.
Really:: dave wasclike a white willis reeed :: had no weakness: great defender!": great shooter : great rebounder : good passer etc et
This was a great series, with five road team wins in 7 games. Two went to overtime, the sixth went to double overtime. That game may have been the best finals game in NBA history, there were 11 lead changes in the second overtime. Milwaukee won on a last second Jabbar skyhook from the right side of the foul lane. Cowens had fouled out by then, a common problem for teams in the finals of that era, everyone risked fouling out. It’s a surprise that there doesn’t seem to be a video record of this series and that game six is missing. Game seven was Oscar Robinson’s last game.
I remember the game like yesterday. I was 13 years at the time and I was big time Bucks fans but prior to game 7 I remember watching game 6 when Kareem hit his famous skyhook in double OT to win forcing game 7 back to Milwaukee. I thought maybe the Bucks can back home and win game 7 even though they didn't have Lucius Allen in this series because he was hurt. But the Celtics were just the better team, Lucius or no Lucius the Celtics were just better, it's still painful to this day that Boston won when I see these old footage.
Amazing seeing this game at the Mecca Arena in Milwaukee. The arena has not at all changed much.
Small, but wonderful place to view a game. Not really a poor seat in the house.
Poor Kareem, bet this loss stuck with him for a long time, he never was the same at Milwaukee
it was after that series that Kareem started letting be known his wish to be traded
Darrian Mitchell Kareem was never happy in the city of Milwaukee. He always wanted to play his professional career in either New York (Where he was from), or in Los Angeles. He was traded to LA a year later.
DackupDoo he was way to big a celebrity to stay in such a small market even in the 1970s.
@@d820m really, dave Cowen &john havlicek, Charles Scott, jo jo white , Paul salis vs young kareem Abdul-Jabbar
It was a massive missed opportunity to only get one ring in the four seasons with Robertson, Kareem and Dandridge
you're describing game 6, an overtime win by the Bucks. game 7 (see your headline) went back to Milwaukee, where the Celtics won in a rout. w/ respect.
60s Celtics, -russel, Havlicek n Jones 70's Celtics -cowens Havlicek n White
Bill russell / 1960s boston vs willis reed/ ny knick ;; bill russell / boston celric 1965/ willis reed / ny knick 1970??
❤ paul westfall trade charlie scott or jo jo white??
The Big O's last game.
Bucks losing to the Celts - thiswas like a dagger in my heart. I don't know WHY I'm watching this again. YOW.....OUCH!
No one could ever stop that sky hook of kareems,it was the beat weapon in nba history!
Bob dandridge was a tough smart smooth player but he was no match for john havlicek.
However, Kareem got his revenge in 1985
Kareem had to suffer another game 7 loss before that but then won in 87 too. Him and Lebron really battled the Celtics in their careers.
ginoongkamote:First,thanks for posting and sharing this particular video. Let's be completely clear. This perticular game(as a whole)had so much to offer. For so many reasons. Exciting game with many other great players and both coaches. Part of the rich NBA history. After watching this,I have a unique question. Why hasn't Richie Powers (one of the 2 on-court referees) been inducted in the Basketball Hall Of Fame by now? He had a long career of officiating NBA games(1956-1979.) His book "Overtime" (during the 1973-74 season) is very insightful as well. What keeps him from being honored in this way? Just wondering,that's all. This is horrible and makes no sense. Hopefully,one day this will change. Once again,thanks for posting and sharing this truly vintage video.
Actually it was Bob Cousy who came up with the idea to double team Jabbar.
Willis reeds/ ny knick 1970s team used double team jabber: wilt / l.a lakers used to double jabber; it how to do it is the hard part :: ???
When did the Celtics stop putting "BOSTON" on their visitor jerseys? I miss those days.
This is real basketball
Cowens was only 6 nine but he and willis reed both gave abdul jabbar and wilt problems because they were very strong.Cowens seemed to have kareems number sometimes.
plus, as guys who could hit 15 to 20 foot jumpers they brought Jabbar and Wilt out from under the basket
@@d820m brother Darrin you are right about the shorter center's who could make that jump shot....Willis.....cowens...Zelmo... and let include Mel daniels.....etc....all in the hall of fame where they belong.....
I remember watching this series on TV. The Celtics always played good fundamental team ball and great coaching. They just always figured out how to beat their opponents.
Jabbar scoring for the series : 35, 36, 26, 34, 37, 34, 26.....
Cowens : 19, 17, 30, 24, 28, 13, 28 ......
Havlicek : 26, 18, 28, 33, 28, 36, 16 .......
One problem for the Bucks was that the Celtics had two very good scorers, whereas the Bucks relied heavily on Jabbar to carry the scoring load. In addition to Havlicek/Cowens, the Celts also had a game where White led the team in scoring. In the first game, Dandridge was second in scoring for the Bucks with 12 points.
Great Low post basketball players are over rated ; they can be stop by complex defense; need great guard play ;;
That bucks team was great as was the celtics team of those days.The bucks always had problems with havlicek,he was a stud.
Johnny most on the narration!
Rest in peace Hondo
Abdul jabbar played at the highest level longer than anyone ever.Its hilarious when people start talking about the best players ever, they often skip him? Then they try to say that people like pippen,hornacek,ginobili,and c anthony were as good as havlicek.Havlicek would destroy them all if he were 28 and playing against them?!
It’s funny how the teams who have been in the finals the last couple years (LA, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Boston and Golden State) have been mostly the exact same teams that were going there in the mid-70s. Now if we can get my Blazers to win another title that would be great 👍
Amazing that Paul Westphal would not win another championship after 1974. Even tho it was considered a blunder that Red Auerbach let Paul Westphal go, PW would never experience the thrill of winning another NBA championship.
Charlies scitt or jo jo white trade ??
Lots of Tommy Points to give out in this game.
it was Oscar Robertson last game
RIP John Havlicek 1:16. 6:50.
I had forgotten about the Celtics double-teaming strategy on Jabbar, but Cowens, despite giving up 6+ inches, always seemed to play Kareem tough.
Cowens played everybody tough. No nights off against Dave.
73trident mcrider not to mention Cowens’ leaping ability and being a lefty.
Dave cowen was like white willis reed: great defender : shooter; rebounder ; good passer; etc etc both were lefty shooter
The celtics had alot of great role players like jo jo white,don nelson and don chaney.Even hank finkel hit afew long jumpers at the top of the key when cowens was out in foul trouble.
It's true the Celts did have a lot of role players, but I wouldn't put White in that category. He was an all-star and one of the best guards in the '70's. Silas was more fitting in the 'role player' category.
JoJo was no role player. He was a member of the 1970's Celtics Big 3 - White, Cowens, Havlicek. Often led team in scoring, Was an All-Star and a HOF inductee. 1976 Finals MVP.
One of the 5 best guards in the league at that time. His #10 hangs in the Garden Rafters.
Chaney along with Jerry Sloan, were the 2 top defensive big guards of their era.
@@thomasleary2814 for sure. Jo Jo wasn't Oscar or Jerry, but he was pretty close to Bing, Maravich & Frazier.
@@thomasleary2814 your right
Wala pang eastern at western conference nuon..Kung sino lang ang magharap sa Finals.
Milwaukee was still in the Western Division in the 70s along with Chicago, the bucks fell short of making it to the NBA finals in later years, 1983, 1984, 1986 and 2001.
They fell short in making the finals again in 2019. it took a drought of 47 seasons for the bucks to reach the finals where as of the time of this comment, they are down 0-2 to the Western conference champions Phoenix Suns, during the 2021 NBA Finals.
(Yes I know your comment is from 12 years ago, I just felt the need to update your information)
Cant disagree with greendynasty.Very accurate assessment.
@johnsontlast That's an incredible statistic. Watching this highlight I can see why. These Celtics had a lot of very good, well disciplined players who did all the little things right. Too bad they didn't win more titles during the period in question. It would have helped people remember them more.
Celtic pride, baby! Amazing they came back from that loss at home in game 6.
@thenintendogamer...uh the 58 series went SIX....the double OT game you are referring to was the year before in BOSTON....won by the Celtics....
Great game....Celtic pride.....
ok Captain precision, C's back in FINALS 2012!
Welp
you got any extra tickets?
Oscar was old and tired at this point but havlicek had several big seasons left.
manny4552 he was not old & tired, someone came along better & more efficient than him . it's as simple as that
Actually, this was havlicek's last season as the Celtics leading scorer. Although he had several more very good seasons, the next year cowens emerged as the leading scorer and essentially the team's best player.
@@claudine69retoke this was Oscar's last season. He was clearly past his prime.
He was busy helping him win titles 17 years apart.
@thenintendogamer i thought that series ended in 6? my mistake if it didn't
@xSoccerxCorex No, '58 also went to Game 7 in 2OT @ STL
Not true. The Hawks beat the Celtics in 6 that year - largely due to an injury to Bill Russell.
@@thomasleary2814 Yeah a shame he was injured, they only lost by 1 point, i think 110-109 or something like that, i know it was only 1 point, to think what might have been if he didn't get hurt, oh well, 8 straight titles isn't too bad, lol
Ah, been posted before, but this is Game 7.
Oh my bad. I thought you were the same guy as the original comment haha.
But yeah, I agree with you.
These dudes are running around in low tops! How didn't half the players break their ankles?
Because they had their ankles taped.
@thenintendogamer he meant game 7's in the finals
you got the wrong guy, I said nothing of the sort about Alcinder, I just said he was nullified in game 7 with a brilliant game plan by Heinsohn, Look at my comment I SAID the rest of the team choked
Don nelson didn tlook very athletic but he had game, he could play.
@SayNoToPC Is it fair to ask where Bird was at game 6 of the '85 finals, Magic in the 89 Finals, Jordan in G7 of the '90 ECF, Thomas in G7 of the '88 finals or Olajuwon in '96 WCSF? Circumstances like ref bs or injury emotional chemistry take effect in everybody.
Of course If I remember correctly we had no Lucious Allen- Celts would've lost if we'd had him available!
Not too sure about that, they probably would have made adjustments.
Why didn’t Kareem just guard Paul Silas?
Bobby dandridge was a really good player he had a nice shot andsmooth gam,e but he was no match for havlicek.
Tommy Hiensohn is such a great coach for the Celtics he knew exactly what to do against this pesky Rockets team
Red Auerbach originally wanted Heinsohn to coach the Celtics when Red himself stepped down in 1966, but Tommy turned him down at that time because he didn't think he could deal with Russell as coach, Heinsohn then suggested to Red that Russell should be the coach
oscar shot 2-13 from the field lmfao did you see that airball
Kareem may have been the best player, but basketball is 5 on 5
2020?
For the very last time, the Celtics got the better of The Big O.
The narrator almost sounds like Wolfman Jack...
It's Johnny Most, who was the Celtics Radio announcer for many years.
Johnny Most is wrong... The Celtics lost the 1958 Finals to St. Louis so they had lost 1 time in the finals.
Most was right. He said that the Celtics had never lost in a game 7 in the finals.
Ironically this was Havlicek's worst game of the series. But Cowens and the team defense pulled em thru.
sorry man my mistake
Yeah im not arguing with that. Im just saying you fault Kareem way too much when it was the rest of his team that didnt step up. I dont think that hate is warranted.
@thenintendogamer Your thinking 76
Don chaney is my uncle
A very underrated player.
Simmons.
Hondo!
yeah but Bucks choked. The other players like Dandridge and Davis, who very effective in previous games did not do it in game 7, when pressure was on and Alcinder nullified. Celts superior depth showed thru as well. Celts in those days just KNEW how to win titles, no one could match them.
Kareem should have been mvp, celtics were the better team though.
JERRY WEST was only player to win finals mvp on the losing team, but yes, jabbar had a hell of a series
defense!!!!
OMG players were pretty dumb back then...how hard is it to dump the ball into the captain kareem?
This is late but OMG defense kept them from doing that, stupid.
Havlicek should have gotten the mvp in 69 finals, he didn't put up Jerry west numbers but who does, I think Mr West would've gladly given it to him, he's still bitter about that series, -2 yrs later Hondo gets his 8th at 36, still in the thick of things and just sparked the team with his energy even though he was hobbled a bit in 76, -2 phenomenal series tho when basketball was played like it was supposed to be played,,I know times and style change, but I love watching 70s n 80s NBA -the overtimes get the notoriety of game 5 in 76 but watch the 1st quarter of that game, the Celtics put on a clinic comparable to the 86 Celtics, led by Havlicek's 13 of 36 points in the quarter
Kareem was the best player in this series. Had Lucious Allen not gotten injured the Bucks would've won this tight series.
They had to replace his 17ppg from their roster b4 the playoffs.
SIMMONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SIMMONS
I'm almost certain the Celtics will lose tonight Bill.
Milwaukee bucks should have won game 7, but their offense did not show up that night. So the Boston Celtics won again. This time, they did it with their defense and clutch shooting. Milwaukee fans came home feeling very disappointed. Their team was better, but they lost the series. The score was not even close.
The Bucks were not better. Nobody played better "team" basketball in the early and mid-1970's than the Celtics and the Knicks. Actually, the Celtics should have won game 6, but Cowens fouled out in the final minutes.
What can I say The Celtics the Best Team in the NBA ever, even in 1974 they we're the best and the Fans in Milwaukee and Kareem all begged to differ well they did and lost, he would lose to the Celtics again with the Lakers in 1984, so Its just plain wrong being on the Other end of Greatness.
simmons